Tuesday, April 8, 2014

“May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on
the hilltops. May the fruit trees
flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a
field. May the king’s name endure
forever; may it continue as long as the sun shines.” Psalm 72:16

It is planting season here at Nyankunde. I have been marveling at the hillsides and
how much of the land on the hillsides has been cultivated this year. Compared to last year I would say that much
more of the land is being farmed. I
believe this is a sign of community development and prosperity. I also think it is a sign that this is a sign
of security, of people feeling that this is their home once again. After the many lives that were lost here in
such a tragic way, it is a beautiful thing to see. New life has come to Nyankunde.

In the evening it is a common scene to see people climbing
the hillsides to their fields with sickle in hand to work/harvest grain in the
fields. You can’t help but see the
dependence of people on the land “May
there be abundant grain throughout the land.” Every time it rains I feel thankful. We have a medium-sized vegetable garden and a
large plot of beans/peanuts, so I only experience “dependence” on the land in a
small way. We are certainly not eating
only what we grow, unlike many of the people here.

Planting rows

Re-feeding a child

I think Congolese people understand many things as it relates to the soil and agriculture. I have started to use the analogy
of a seed growing up to be a small seedling to a child’s progress in the
feeding program. Progress is slow and
lots of work in the beginning. The kids
refuse food over and over. They have no
appetite, no energy whatsoever. All they
do is sleep and eat, eat then sleep. It
seems like nothing is happening. The
beginning of re-feeding is like placing a seed in the ground and then waiting
over it…is there enough sun? Are the
conditions right, enough fertilizer, enough rain? This is when parent’s get discouraged and it
is really important that they understand this process and to get support of the
extended families (especially the fathers).
We don’t focus very much on weight, rather on behavior and frequent
feedings. So the child refuses again….not
to worry. Try hard not to show frustration…offer
the same thing again in a hour.

Then parents start to notice small changes such as the child
asking for food, or waking up to eat.
They

A recent graduate of the nutrition program

may be less clingy and fearful and generally happier. This is when we can introduce new foods. This can be likened to the small sprout
beginning to appear. It is fun to
watch! This is usually the sign that we
will succeed, even if progress is slow.
Now we start talking more about weight and developmental goals.

The last thing we notice is a child’s activity picks
up. He curiously explores his
environment again and maybe starts standing and walking again (or for the first
time). This is the flowering/fruit
stage.

Some children progress through these stages rapidly, but for
many it takes literally weeks. Some
succumb to infection and complications of their energy deficits, but most
succeed. I would say it is the most
rewarding thing I get to witness.
Generally parents are thankful for the time to recover in the hospital.

I have one little 12year-old boy with cerebral palsy who
came in to the hospital completely emaciated with signs of both protein and
calorie malnutrition. He weighed 8kg,
what you would expect a 1year-old to weigh.
During the initial few weeks he slept a lot and lost his edema (a normal
process), decreasing his weight to 6kg (his real weight). Now he is on the rebound and is approaching
8kg once again. We have placed a g-tube
and are using this for therapeutic milk and protein-rich porridge, while he
takes many of his calories by mouth. A
20% increase in body mass is substantial over a period of 6weeks! He remains very developmentally delayed and
non-verbal, but he is genuinely happy and smiles most of the time. Will his life ever be truly normal? No, but he is greatly loved by his family and
gives them much encouragement. This is
often the case with children who have special needs. Perhaps some day we will have him up in a wheelchair
and able to explore his world. It is a blessing
to be part of his recovery.

Who are the Poor and Needy?

As Warren and I were reading through Scripture and praying
last week, I started to weep over the passage in Psalm 72. Warren just stared at me as my voice
cracked. Maybe it’s pregnancy making me
more sensitive in general, but this Psalm describes the heart of God for those
in need. It was as if the Lord were
saying to me personally, “Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of
the needy, and to crush their oppressors” (74:4) and “Help himjudge your people in the right way;
let the poor always be treated fairly.”
It is the heart of God that people are treated fairly, that they have an
advocate, and the opportunity to prosper.
Why? As the Psalm says, “for
their lives are precious to him” (72:14).
God wants us to have an active part in the process of caring for people,
looking for those with special needs.
Most of the time you don’t have to look very far. This is part of living out the Gospel, “true
fasting” in the words of Isaiah 58:6-7:

“Is not this the kind of fasting
I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the
yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked to clothe
him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.”

The question is, who are these people in our lives? Who are we asked to defend and treat
fairly? I don’t think this is simply
charity work, but rather standing in someone’s place and advocating for
them. Is it simply about giving
money? It seems like Isaiah is telling
the reader to share his own food and resources (time,
energy, etc). This Lenten season, may
the Lord show you how to turn your lives outwards to embrace the needs of
others. May this be part of our
sacrifice to Him.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Looking back at this past year, April was my favorite month. Everything is green and lush and it rains almost everyday. Fields are being planted all around us and people are hard at work. When it rains here, it really rains! Our garden is flourishing and we are harvesting vegetables on a daily basis for dinner. We plan to plant peanuts in the the field behind our house this week...rather with our hospital work we will pay a group of people to prepare the ground for planting.

Our newest Warren-designed oven

Pregnancy

March finds me
more than halfway through my pregnancy (22 weeks)! It is such a

My little baby bump

miracle to
watch a baby growing and developing inside of you. It is such a slow but
certain process. I am finally certain
when the baby is kicking and moving
about. I am incredibly thankful for my
good health and plenty of fresh

foods to
eat. All I have experienced is fatigue;
it is more difficult to work all day long
without sitting down. I plan to slowly
reduce my hours as the pregnancy progresses.

I often wonder
what kind of parents will we be. I know
how to take care of a child’s
medical and emotional needs, but I have never had my own child. There are so
many unknowns. Who will this little person be?
What will they be good at? We're getting more and more excited about what
the future holds. I can identify a
bit with Mary when she says "My soul magnifies the Lord...may it be onto me as
you have said. ". We want to be good parents who point to the Lord in all we do
and say. We leave the rest up to
Him. He already knows who this child will be
and is our job to trust Him and not worry too much.

Being pregnant
in a different culture that my own is an interesting experience. Overall I would
say that pregnancy is a private affair here....in fact most people do not
announce their pregnancies. I have told
a few people, but I know the word
spreads rapidly. This is so different
than American culture where

everyone
celebrates upcoming babies with showers, gender revelation parties, and excitement. Maybe pregnancy is such a regular part of
life here. Most women here spent most
of their adult lives raising children and having babies. Babies come and babies
go with infant mortality as high as it is. Maybe
women don't want to set their hopes too
high. I do miss being able to rejoice
and wait in expectation

alongside
family and friends. In a funny way, I
miss being able to announce something to a group of people. Warren and I share much of this together as
we look at weekly ultrasounds and see the baby's physique taking shape.

Pediatrics

Pediatrics is
as busy as ever. Most days I am
responsible for about 50 patients. I care for more patients on a daily basis
than I would ever have in the
states. This past week I diagnosed two children
with tuberculosis, one of the spine and
yet another case with meningeal involvement.
Our nutrition program

is
"hopping!" This month Samaritan's
Purse is starting up community nutrition care groups for at-risk children and
their families. We are hoping to provide
community follow-up to those being discharged from the hospital nutrition
program. This will involve community
gardening and hopefully engage the fathers in field preparation. Last week the
SP team was doing a community assessment in a nearby

community and
was led to the home of a new mom and her twins struggling to survive. The woman was too weak to stand and needed to
be transported to the road for emergency evacuation. I am convinced that this little
family would have died.
Pray for them. The babies

are gaining
weight and looking stronger everyday.
They are not out of the woods yet.

This last month
I said "goodbye" to a little girl named Anifa. She had been under my
care for much of the year for her advanced skin condition pemphigus vulgaris. She experienced many complications related to
the side effects of steroids and was more and more
debilitated. The family could see that
it was time to shift gears and go
home. She spent five days out of the hospital
before going to her

eternal
home. Her mother visited us today in
pediatrics and told us the last thing Anifa
said before she died was that she could hear children singing. She said that she wanted to join them. I love the thought of children welcoming
Anifa to heaven, it brings tears to my eyes every time. DR Congo was not Anifa's home, she was only
passing through. I am thankful for the
healing that took place within her family as they rallied around her during her
last months. May the Lord give us the
eyes to see the
significance of our lives and cherish our days.

Nyankunde
Hospital is undergoing a rebirth. It is
a Congolese mission hospital

once again,
this time run by nationals and the local church and not ex-pats as

it once
was. Many buildings in the area are
still in shambles from the war but

many have been
re-built. People who once lived here
come back to see the

renewal and
life starting again. People cry, they
reminisce..."I used to live

here, " or
"I was born here." For many
there still is a significant fear

factor, some do
not want to live here again because of the memories, but overall

life abounds
once again. Nyankunde is a prospering
village again, the people

continue to
struggle with food security but they have plans for the future.

There are more
fields being cultivated this year than last and we have to fight

to keep our
small garden plots. Now displaced
peoples take shelter in

Nyankunde. It is exciting to be part of the changes
happening here, the

training of
Congolese doctors and nurses again. We
see people from all over

eastern DRC for
a diagnosis and treatment. We see our
share of heartaches and

many with
advanced disease. It is my prayer this
next year that the spiritual

ministry here
continues to grow, and that we would be known for this.

Rosie

We have a
beautiful young pup named Rosie, a bull mastiff. She is growing by leaps and bounds and

Rosie at about 9 weeks old

is 12
weeks old. She doubled her weight this
past month and is about 12kg! She was so
small at first that I insisted we keep her enclosed from the threat of owls at
night. I no longer fear the owls! She is lots of fun and already knows “sit”
and is learning “come.” She has no fear of goats or pigs and approaches everything with a curious spirit. Most passer-bys pass to the other side of the
road when they see us coming with one phrase: “mama wey.” We are spending lots of time with her and
exposing her to lots of new things. She
loves picking everything up, eating bugs, chewing shoes, and eating fish and
Goma cheese rind. We are thankful to
have a dog again. We hope that we can
train her well before the baby comes in August.

Rosie now at 12weeks of age

We are grateful
for your support and interest in our lives.
It is a privilege to serve here and see God at work.

Some prayer
requests:

1) Pray
for the health of our baby we wait with anticipation. Pray that God would continue to give us joy
in this season of preparation.

2)Pray for
our future plans to serve in Congo to become clear. This is a logistically challenging place to
live and work.

3)Pray
for a profitable time at an upcoming medical conference in Greece at the end of
April/beginning of May and for the week following that we will spend with
Warren’s parents. Greece here we come!

4)Pray
for the many medical challenges we face daily and for insight into the
spiritual needs of patients and families.
Pray that Jesus would be known here at Centre Medical Nyankunde.

5)Pray
for humility of spirit and service as we treat and work alongside our Congolese
colleagues.

Blessings,

Lindsey and Warren Cooper

Pediatrics teamA night with Dr. Chantal before her departure to Bunia. We miss her.